


If Poe Went to Canto Bight

by Writtenonmybody



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, First Kiss, Flashbacks, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), M/M, Poe Dameron Needs A Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Poe Dameron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:27:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27021982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writtenonmybody/pseuds/Writtenonmybody
Summary: “Alright, but I’m coming with you,” Poe decided.Finn grinned.“What?!” said Rose.“We need a pilot,” Finn said.“Can’t you do it?” Rose said to Finn.  She figured after what he did on Starkiller he could do anything.  She was a technician so she’d never flown.  Her sister was the one who had been the pilot.Poe smiled fondly at Finn.  “Doesn’t know how or I wouldn’t be alive.”Finn blushed for about five different reasons.“Maybe if we ever get a minute in this kriffin’ war, I’ll have the chance to teach you.”  Poe continued staring into Finn, whose blush was deepening so much it was visible.  Images rose up in both Finn and Poe’s minds of things Poe might be able to teach Finn, and they had nothing to do with flying ships.
Relationships: BB-8 & Poe Dameron, DJ & Finn & Rose Tico, Finn & Rose Tico, Kaydel Ko Connix & Poe Dameron, Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron & Leia Organa, Poe Dameron & Rose Tico, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	If Poe Went to Canto Bight

**Author's Note:**

> Stop trying to separate them. They belong together. That's my canon.

“Alright, but I’m coming with you,” Poe decided. 

Finn grinned.

“What?!” said Rose.

“We need a pilot,” Finn said.

“Can’t you do it?” Rose said to Finn. 

Rose figured after what he did on Starkiller he could do anything. She was a technician so she’d never flown. Her sister was the one who had been the pilot.

Poe smiled fondly at Finn. “Doesn’t know how or I wouldn’t be alive.” 

Finn blushed for about five different reasons. 

“Maybe if we ever get a minute in this kriffin’ war, I’ll have the chance to teach you.” Poe continued staring into Finn, whose blush was deepening so much it was visible. Images rose up in both Finn and Poe’s minds of things Poe might be able to teach Finn, and they had nothing to do with flying ships.

Annoyed that she had clearly lost both of their attention, Rose raised her voice, “Commander.”

Poe jumped and Finn smirked. 

“Who will stay here and make sure we can leave undetected, and get back? Admiral Holdo will never go for this plan.”

“No, it’s need-to-know. And she doesn’t. We’ll bring in the Black, Red, and Blue Squadrons, and Connix.” Poe was excited to finally have something he could do, to have a sense of control back, and he clapped his hands with eyes sparkling. “We’re gonna do this!”

Poe called Lt. Connix to the med bay and explained the plan. “Is this something you’re willing to do?”

Connix contemplated only a moment and then nodded gravely.

“Are you sure? You understand the consequences?” Poe pressed. 

They were after all talking about mutiny. Connix pursed in her mouth in a thin line. The look on her face was remarkably similar to General Organa. “I understand the consequences of doing nothing but running away!”

“Exactly!” said Poe, gratified that she shared his frustration.

Rose glanced at Finn who tugged on his jacket uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes.

“If she’s not going to make a plan,” continued Poe, “then we will.” 

Of course Admiral Holdo did have a plan. She just chose not to share it. Perhaps she wasn’t used to the open manner in which plans were discussed in their unit. Perhaps she was trying to teach Poe a lesson about restraint and taking the wider view. He didn’t get the message, at least not at that point. And neither did Connix. Where Poe went, she followed, as did the Red, Blue, and Black squadrons. They agreed they would just keep it quiet for as long as possible, but if the time came that they needed to take over command, then they would take over command. 

Therefore when Poe, Finn, and Rose took off for Canto Bight and Vice Admiral Holdo said, “What’s that?” 

Lt. Connix answered, “Nothing Admiral, just passing debris.” 

Kaydel Connix nodded to the three out in space thinking, May the Force be with you.

*******

“What’s Canto Bight like?” Finn asked as they flew closer. He had no idea what to expect as Poe piloted the ship. In Finn’s short time with the Resistance he had been to three different planets. Each was radically different from the other, and nothing like the frothy confection that was Canto Bight. Most of his life Finn had gone from the inside of the training camps to the inside of the First Order battle cruisers. The First Order had always underestimated Finn, considering his tendency to help others a weakness. Though he was smart and an impeccable shot, he had a reticence to kill. So they had confined him to sanitation. They weren’t entirely confident about his ability to follow orders to the letter without thinking about them. Turns out they were right about that. 

“Canto Bight is a terrible place filled with the worst people in the galaxy,” Rose said vehemently. 

Poe laughed when she’d said it, but then he reconsidered. “Actually, that’s a solid analysis.” 

Rose preened under the praise. Honestly, she was pretty starstruck about Poe. After all, Poe had been a hero hundreds of times over, at Starkiller and for years before that. But her fandom was lessened by the fact that she wanted to be on this mission alone with Finn. Finn had only been in this for his friends from the beginning. He hadn’t actually joined their army. But Rose only knew the story of Starkiller. This was the first they had ever met. What she thought of as Finn’s almost-desertion had emotionally equalized the playing field between them. Now instead of an out-of-her- league hero, he was a person. A person she was definitely crushing on. Finn had been so grateful when she hadn’t told Poe how they had met. It made a bond between that made their relationship feel special. Sadly for Rose it was becoming clear that Finn cared far more about what Poe thought of him that what she did.

The lights of Canto Bight were visible long before the ship got near. It perched like a wedding cake on the edge of a vast lake with a waterfall at its tip. High cliffs rose up next to the ocean with just enough shore to land on the sand.

“Are you sure we can land here?” asked Finn keenly aware, as he had been trained to be, of rules and regulation, limits and boundaries. That tendency was something he was trying to learn to cast off. Obviously, Poe was a great help in this arena.

“We can’t very well touch down on the official landing pad,” Poe explained.

“Let’s just go,” Rose rushed.

Sure enough they were not ten feet from the ship when a casino official came scurrying over. “You can’t park your ship on the beach.”

“We won’t be long,” Poe assured with a confident smile not pausing his stride. 

“You can’t park here even for five minutes!” the official said.

“Just loading and unloading,” Finn called hurrying after Poe, though of course they were carrying nothing and too far to carry much back. 

“There are loading zones!”

“Next time,” Rose apologized as they disappeared ahead. Obviously, they didn’t have a lot of time.

The casino at Canto Bight was a splendor to be hold. Music, art, dance, elegance was on display everywhere. The walls and the people were bedecked in jewels and gorgeous displays of the wealth that created them. 

Surveying the crowd, Poe thought with admiration, Maz sure knows a wide spectrum of beings. The inequity bothered him of course. That was why he was a part of the Resistance. But right now he was more interested in contacts, contacts across the galaxy, in species, class, and location. The more he had, the better he could serve the Resistance.

To Rose, Canto Bight was nothing but avarice, oppression, and evil. She had been raised on a poor mining colony that the First Order had stripped to finance their military. She understood that Finn didn’t know, and she desperately wanted him to get it. She wanted him to make choices for the Resistance, not just for his friends. Though really in her heart of hearts, she wanted to be more than just a friend.

Poe could sense Rose’s feelings for Finn, of course. Poe’s question about how Finn and Rose met had come out much harsher than he wanted it to. Poe saw how Rose looked at Finn, and Poe’s heart burned with jealousy. He was so kriffin’ perceptive, except of course where Finn’s heart was concerned. Poe’s intense vulnerability with Finn blinded him. So although he kept watching for signs of Finn’s feelings for Rose, he completely missed Finn’s feelings for him. For his part Finn was blissfully, or perhaps unblissfully, unaware of both of them.

Finn was awed by the beauty and decadence of the casino. He had never seen anything like it. He had never seen any beings’ playground, unless you count Maz’s place, but certainly not the playground of the rich and famous.

“Aw, this place is great!” Finn enthused. 

Poe enjoyed Finn’s wide-eyed excitement. “Too bad we don’t have time to play.” Poe raised his eyebrows suggestively at Finn.

Rose harrumphed at both of them, “Come on.” 

Poe made a circle with his finger and then pointed to the balcony. They split up and scoured the casino, meeting up outside after, except for BB8 who was having some trouble with a being who thought BB8 was a slot machine. 

“Fathiers,” Rose exclaimed in awe. Far below there was a racetrack with massive creatures being ridden around it. “I’ve never seen them in real life.” 

Poe could hear the sadness in her voice and put a hand on her shoulder. 

Finn was compassionate, but confused. “Why do you hate this place so much?”

Rose said, “Look closer.” 

So Finn grabbed a telescope on the banister and looked closer. 

Down on the racetrack the jockeys were zapping the Fathiers to drive them faster. On the side there were children, clearly enslaved, taking care of the Fathiers. A child tried to step in to stop the handler from abusing the poor creature, and the handler raised its instrument of torture to the child. 

Finn flinched when it happened. Rage exploded in him, but suddenly the rage was gone replaced by abject terror. Finn was no longer Finn. He was FN 2187, and he was a child. A handler in a stormtrooper’s officers’ uniform was zapping him. Not just once but over and over and over. The stormtrooper might have had a look of glee on their face but there was no way to know because the helmet covered everything. Both the child FN 2187 and the adult Finn were convulsing; though not so violently that Rose noticed. Her eyes were still down on the racetrack sorting through her own anger. 

However, Poe was attuned to Finn’s every shift, and he knew a flashback when he saw it. He put his arm around Finn and squeezed steadily. 

“Buddy, breathe. You’re with me, you’re safe, they don’t have you anymore.” 

Internally Poe was kicking himself. He never should have let Finn come on this mission. He never should have let any of them come on this mission. But he had to do something, he couldn’t just sit there with Holdo silent and no clear way forward.

“You’re here, you’re safe, you’re Finn,” Poe repeated. 

Finn’s convulsing ceased and his eyes cleared, the pressure of Poe’s arms, the soothing tone of his voice, the words he had said led Finn out of his flashback and into the present. Neither Finn nor Poe realized Poe hadn’t said any of those words out loud. 

Rose, still lost in her own rage, hissed, “I wish I could put my fist through this whole beautiful town.”

Some commanding officers would say something encouraging, but Poe was a physical guy. Thus he laid his hands on both their backs. They knew what it meant. He had their backs, and the tension eased in both Finn and Rose’s bodies. 

“For now," Poe said. "Let’s just find the codebreaker.”

The three reentered the main hall of the casino and spotted the man with the red plomb bloom on his lapel. There were women dangling on both arms and dice rolling from his experienced hands. 

A wookie and this guy, Poe thought wryly remembering Maz’ expression when she spoke about the codebreaker. Poe couldn’t help but gaze at Finn with the direction his thoughts were wandering. He longed to reach out and run his hands down Finn’s strong body, caress his face, hear the sorrows of Finn’s childhood that shook him. Nerf-herder, Poe castigated himself. He really shouldn’t go on missions with Finn if it was going to make Poe this distracted. He grimaced miserably, not bothering to kid himself. Poe would join any mission with Finn. Poe would join anything and go anywhere if it meant he got to spend even just one more moment in Finn’s presence. 

Seeing Poe’s expression and completely misreading it as was his wont, Finn said, “This hard for you too?” He kindly squeezed Poe’s hand. 

For Poe, every touch initiated by Finn was a brand burned into his skin. Poe just didn’t belong to himself anymore. 

“Let’s go to talk to him,” said Rose launching forward. Unfortunately right at that moment guards appeared and put them in handcuffs. Giving tickets was not how they handled parking infractions here on Canto Bight. This mission was definitely not going as any of them had envisioned it.

*******

The casino guards took them down a maze of passages winding underground to a cellblock. Finn and Rose began arguing about what to do next. Poe attempted to quiet them as he’d noticed they had another cellmate. The prisoner popped out, startling Finn and Rose. Turned out he was a thief with knowledge of the First Order codes. He was willing to help them – for a price. Rose wanted to say no and try to get back to the casino floor to the codebreaker Maz had recommended. Poe told her they couldn’t afford to be picky. They needed a codebreaker and here was one. Who cared if he was a thief as well (of course, Poe had been a thief himself for quite some time but he kept that bit to himself.) Finn found himself, once again attempting to mediate between Poe and a female friend. 

Finn couldn’t understand it. Poe particularly valued strong women. Poe would go on for hours about Pava, Kare, Connix, Suralinda, and for days and weeks about General Organa. Thus there was something in particular about Rey and Rose but Finn couldn’t possibly think of what it could be. He really was quite clueless of the affect that he had on others, about his own value really. A lifetime of training told him he was not a person, much less one who was smart, kind, brave, and sexy. 

Amidst the arguing the thief shrugged, opened the cell door, and vanished. With a frown at Rose, Poe led the way out of the cell. 

“How do we get past the guards?” Rose asked Finn. She’d lost her starstruck attitude towards Poe and was back to wishing he hadn’t come along.

“I’ve got an idea about that,” Finn grinned a sly smile. He leaned over and lifted up a metal cover. The smell of sewage arose and all three gagged a little.

“Well, this should be fun,” Poe quipped and jumped in.

As they traversed through the noxious sludge, Poe whistled cheerfully and periodically broke into a Yavinese song. Finn and Rose very much wanted to throttle him. Finally they found another metal cover. Finn gave Poe a leg up, he pushed the cover away, and glanced around. 

“Where does it lead?” Rose whispered.

“The Fathier’s stable,” Poe whispered back. 

Finn gave Rose a leg up next, and then Poe pulled Finn out. As Poe heaved Finn’s body unto his own, they lost their breath caught frozen for a millisecond against each other before leaping away as if the electricity between them had short-circuited. Rose, entranced by the gentle beasts, moved to stroke one. An enslaved child who lived there in the stall with the beast, stretched to push an alarm button.

Panicked something flared in Finn’s mind and the air between the child’s hand and the button was suddenly impenetrable. Finn caught his breath and focused more consciously. Was he doing this? Was anyone else noticing this? The child, confused and panicking, pushed harder. 

“No wait!” cried Rose. 

The child stared at them with wide fearful eyes. Slowly Poe held out his hand and clicked the gold face of his ring to reveal the symbol of the Resistance.

“We’re with the Resistance,” said Finn, claiming his allegiance for the first time.

The child’s fear shifted to awe and he dropped his hand. The three children who lived there crept out of their stalls. They stared with hero worship at Rose, Poe, and Finn. Rose bathed in the glow of being counted now as a hero of the Resistance; a hero to these children, and just maybe to Finn and Poe too. Her sister would be so proud. Rose fingered the necklace that matched the one her sister had on when she went up in flames dropping the bomb that took down the dreadnaught. 

The children were excited to help them choose a Fathier to escape. Finn didn’t want to leave the children behind in a life of slavery. But what if they were caught? Then the children would be imprisoned, possibly tortured, executed. Poe promised they would come back for them. Somehow, they would come back for them. Poe rode one Fathier, and Finn and Rose another. Poe wanted Finn to ride with him but couldn’t think of a reason other than he wanted Finn’s hard body straddling against his, rather than Rose’s. 

The Fathiers they were on bounded out of the stalls. On an impulse Finn stretched his hand back and the door of every stall slammed open. Simultaneously he was filled with both terror and excitement. Facing forward he saw Poe watching him with a look that Finn couldn’t read. Rose’s attention was focused ahead. The Fathiers, all the Fathiers now, rampaged crashing through the walls of the casino, scattering chips, property, and beings in a swath of destruction that had Rose grinning and Finn and Poe whooping. They bounded through the winding streets of the town and onto the racetrack. 

Finn became nauseas with the wild swaying gait but Rose was still giggling with glee. 

“Stop enjoying this!” he groaned. 

The Fathiers leapt out of the track. They raced over the fields. The herd went in one direction while Poe and Rose urged theirs in the other. Finally they screeched to a halt at the edge of a high cliff just as a bomb obliterated their ship that had been parked below.

“Oh come on!” cried Poe dismounting the beast.

Finn slid off, threw up, and took a deep breath staring back at Canto Bight. “It was worth it though,” he said with satisfaction. “To tear up that town. Make ‘em hurt.”

Rose set the Fathier they were riding free and said, “Now, it’s worth it.”

Poe appreciated Finn and Rose’s sense of retribution. However, he was worried about the larger picture. The entire Resistance fleet was being attacked right this moment, Connix was stalling for time, and they were stuck on Canto Bight with no codebreaker and no ship. As if in answer to his thought, a ship hovered in the air next to them and a little orange and white droid appeared as its’ doors opened.

“BB8!” Poe cried ecstatically. “I’m so glad to see you Buddy!” He leapt forward, rubbed BB8’s sides affectionately, and pressed his head on BB8’s dome. 

Finn flushed with a sudden body sense of Poe rubbing his – Kriff, Finn thought to himself, I’m jealous of a kriffin’ droid. 

“Did you fly the ship?” Poe believed his one-of-a-kind droid could do anything.

DJ stepped into view as BB8 was beeping the explanation. “Need a lift?”

*******

Once they all got on the ship and the negotiating of terms began. The promise of wealth to come wasn’t enough for DJ. Of course the promise itself was a lie as the Resistance didn’t have much, but that didn’t stop them from taking great umbrage when DJ wanted something up front. Specifically he wanted the Haysian smelt necklace that was Rose’s last memento of her sister. She steadfastly relinquished it to him, and left the main cabin so she could mourn alone. Finn demanded DJ give it back but compassion was not in DJ’s wheelhouse. Poe wondered how Finn knew what it meant to Rose. War did breed fast intimate relationships, not to mention devastating loss and endless grief. Poe fingered his own necklace. Under his shirt he wore his mother’s wedding ring against his chest. It wasn’t Haysian smelt, but it was his last memento of her. Somehow, he was going to get Rose’s necklace back before all this was done.

DJ turned on the holo to see who was the owner of the ship that he and BB8 had stolen. (BB8 preferred the phrase temporarily commandeered for the use of the Resistance.) A TIE fighter flickered into view.

“Looks like he made his bank selling to the bad guys.” Then an X-wing flickered up. “And the good.” DJ gave Finn a meaningful look. 

Before they had gone on this mission, Finn had told Poe that he hadn’t joined this army. That didn’t matter to Poe. He just wanted Finn to be happy, free to make his own choices. Preferably that choice would involve staying with Poe. But It was as if DJ had picked up on Finn’s hesitation and was trying to sway Finn into moral ambiguity. Poe was absolutely certain of Finn’s steadfast goodness but DJ’s attempt filled him with anger, not only at DJ’s manipulation but also at everyone who played both sides as if that too wasn’t a choice leading to the triumph of the Dark Side.

“They were playing both sides, just like you,” Poe growled menacingly at DJ.

DJ just shrugged at both of them. “It’s all a machine. Live free. Don’t join.” 

Connix voice suddenly erupted into the already intense moment. “Commander, Lt. Connix here. What’s your status?” Then adding with a touch of panic, she added. “She’s putting everyone on the transports. They’re going to be defenseless. She’s abandoning ship.” 

Honestly many of them could not imagine anything worse. That’s why they were following Poe. Poe was always the last pilot, always the one who took the most risks, always had faith. He had never led them astray. 

“You’ve got to give us more time,” Poe urged. 

She steeled herself. “All right, Commander.”

“We’re in the middle of a mutiny, Kaydel. I think you can call me Poe.”

DJ raised his eyebrows with a snigger. “A mutiny? You sure you’re the good guys?”

Poe felt guilty. He shouldn’t have dragged Connix or his squadrons into this. But if this was the end, how could they not stay and fight? Isn’t that what General Organa had done in her long career? Isn’t that what she would do now if she were conscious? This mission had to succeed. It had to. For all their sakes. 

True to his word, DJ broke the codes. He cloaked the ship, sliced a slit in the shields, and they slipped through. He got them onto the command ship without incident. Finn got them to the tracker and DJ hacked the doors open using the Haysian smelt necklace to do it. Poe took the necklace from DJ with a quick hand and a threatening look. It was time for Rose to shut the tracker down. 

“Might be a good time to think about how we’re getting off this ship,” Rose said nervous and excited. She couldn’t believe they’d made it this far. She couldn’t believe what she was doing. What they’d all done together. Her sister would be proud. ‘That’s a hero,’ her sister had said about Finn. Now Rose was a hero too.

“I know where the nearest escape pods are,” Finn said off-handedly. There had always been the urge to defect from the First Order deep down inside him. He just never found the gumption until he was asked to fire on the innocent. Until he saw his comrade die. Until he met his pilot.

“Of course you do,” said Rose wryly. 

What was that about, wondered Poe hearing her tone.

Tragically, it all went south when they tried to leave. Dozens of stormtroopers surrounded them and Captain Phasma said silkily, “FN 2187, so good to have you back.”

Revulsion and horror gripped Finn’s heart. For just a moment he was a terrified child again but he shook it off. They weren’t dead yet. DJ was dragged away. Poe expanded the mental shields Leia had taught him to make after the Finalizer. His worst nightmare was close at hand. Kylo back in his mind, Finn reconditioned. Captain Phasma forced Poe, Finn, and Rose to their knees. Instead it appeared they were all going to be executed right here. 

General Hux slapped Finn across the face spitting, “Traitor.”

Poe leapt up to attack Hux and Phasma slammed her blaster across his face. Hux leered at the blood dripping down his face. “Well done Phasma.”

General Hux’s masochism had him in ecstasy as he waited to squash their dreams before he murdered them. Worse than execution, DJ had betrayed them. The First Order knew Holdo’s plan. The entire Resistance fleet was going to be picked off one by one as they sat defenseless in their transports. The entire fleet was going to be executed. 

Despite knowing DJ’s duplicitous nature, Finn’s own goodness had caused him to nurture a belief that DJ would change. Devastated he screamed at DJ, “You murdering bastard.”

DJ surveyed him without emotion. “Take it easy, Big F. They blow you up today. You blow them up tomorrow! It’s just business.” 

“You’re wrong!” Finn said with conviction. 

Finn had committed. He was all in, a part of the Resistance now, now as he was about to die. Rose was proud. Poe had never doubted Finn, even when others did, even when Finn did. 

Blood dripped down obscuring Poe's vision, and he was beginning to spiral into despair. “This is all my fault,” he mumbled miserably. 

“No, it’s not. We all chose. This is on the First Order,” said Finn. 

Pressed face down on the floor, Finn and Poe gave each other one last look of unspoken love. Rose grasped the necklace that Poe had returned to her. They were going to die, but die with the people they loved with them, in body and in spirit. 

They heard the word, execute, and the entire area exploded into flames.

Unbeknownst to them Admiral Holdo had just jumped into light speed directly into the First Order’s command ship sacrificing her life and tearing the ship in half. Rey and Ren had assassinated Snoke and split the lightsaber between them. Chaos erupted. Flames were igniting more explosions. Blasters were firing in all direction. The three of them were thrown in different directions, scrambling to find cover and weapons. Improbably a Walker was moving forward shooting everything the stormtroopers around them. The top popped, open, and there was BB8!

“Buddy!” crowed Poe. 

The Walker’s armor had exploded but it was still walking. He and Rose hopped on. 

However, Finn had seen Phasma. He was not going to let her escape, not after everything he had been through, not after everything she had done to him. They began to duel.

Rose started to move towards Finn, but Poe stopped her. “Finn has to do this on his own.”

Finn and Phasma were fighting hand to hand, vicious and dirty. This was personal for both of them. Finn was gaining the upper hand; every hit a day of his childhood avenged. 

Phasma, trying to control him with the emotional abuse she had been using his entire life, menaced venomously, “You were always scum.”

Finn slammed her to the ground in victory. “Rebel scum,” he said, and she fell to her death.

*******

High on adrenaline all three of them scrambled to a nearby shuttle with astonishing speed. Connix had told them the Resistance was headed to the old Rebel base on Crait. Poe flew towards it at top speed careening into the planet’s atmosphere. They were barely a parsec ahead of the First Order fleet. The massive metal door blocking the base was closing. Getting under that door was their only shot, and not a likely one. But Poe was the best pilot in the Resistance and at the last second, he skidded under the metal door snapping off the wings of the ship. Blaster fire was bouncing off the wreckage.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! It’s us!” they yelled.

Leia, standing at the front of what was left at the Resistance, raised her hand. All shooting ceased. Poe, Finn, and Rose slowly exposed their heads.

“You’re not dead!” Leia said. 

Poe couldn’t tell if Leia was glad or furious. Probably both. Poe scrambled down to her. 

“General, I’m sorry.” 

Poe never apologized. He always had a rationale for his actions when he disobeyed orders. Leia had the urge to slap him. She was so mad because she needed him to save the rest of the Resistance, needed him to consider beyond the moment to the whole. But she didn’t. She was just so damn glad to see him alive. When Leia thought he hadn’t made it…her whole family gone, her son turned, her husband murdered, her brother still missing, and then Poe…it was almost one loss too many. But Poe was alive, alive! And as it turned out, her brother was on his way. 

“Don’t blame the others,” Poe said.

“I don’t,” Leia said firmly.

“I understand now, what you were trying to teach me…” he said his voice low and breaking with his vulnerability, “…Leia.” She smiled at him then, gently like a mother to a son.

*******

The First Order was besieging the door. Finn explained that the battering ram they had positioned was Death Star tech and it would crack the door like an egg. They had to take it out. Poe led the V4XD speeders, relics from the old war. So many pilots were gone that many including Finn and Rose were going to fly the speeders. Finn was ridiculously excited for someone who was about to face the entire First Order. Finn’s enthusiasm transcended the particulars of every circumstance. 

As they took off Poe and Finn’s banter filled the airways spurring the fighters on. When Rey and Chewie arrived in the Falcon, they both whooped. 

“They drew them off!” cheered Poe. “All of them!” 

“Oh yeah,” laughed Finn. “They hate that ship.” 

For an instant, hope filled every heart. They thought everything was going to be alright. They thought they were going to win. 

Unfortunately, it was the TIE fighters the Falcon had drawn off. The Walkers were still advancing, and they were picking off the speeders. The Resistance, already so few, were taking heavy losses. It was the destruction of the bombing squad all over again, except this time it was the last of the Resistance.

“Retreat!” Poe commanded. 

Everyone immediately peeled off, except Finn.

“Finn, the cannon is charged. It’s a suicide run,” Poe yelled sternly.

“I’m almost there,” Finn insisted.

“Turn back,” Poe screamed starting to panic. He couldn’t lose Finn. “Finn, that’s an order.”

“I won’t let them win,” Finn said in anguish. 

Finn was so close now he could feel the heat of the cannon burning. He didn’t want to die but this was fitting. He would redeem himself. He would save the Resistance, save Rey, Rose, Leia, Chewie, save Poe. He closed his eyes holding their faces in his mind. 

“I love you,” he whispered.

With a sickening jolt, Poe’s speeder rammed into Finn’s. They both went spinning across the salt and crashed. Half of Poe’s speeder had fallen apart when he’d taken off. The rest of it was in pieces now, but Finn saw Poe’s body a short distance away. Finn ran thinking, not again, not again, not again, not again...

Finn lifted Poe to a sitting position. He had imagined his arms around Poe so many times, but not like this. Never like this. 

Poe opened his eyes lazily saying, “Rose didn’t think I could reach you in time. But I told her,” he gave Finn his most dazzling smile,” I’m fast.”

“Poe,” Finn moaned with relief, incomprehension, frustration, and love. “Poe, why would you stop me?”

Poe reached up and placed his hand on Finn’s cheek gazing into his soil rich eyes as if no one else existed in the entire world. “We don’t win by fighting what we hate. We win by saving what we love.” 

Finn pulled Poe closer with his arms. Poe’s lips were parted open now. No more hiding, no more holding back. Their lips found each other, soft and sure. They clung to each other for life, kissing deeper, as if the Force had paused the universe around them, as if the First Order were not advancing behind them.

Out of breath, their lips broke apart but their faces and bodies stayed pressed against each other. 

“You kriffin’ nerfherder,” Finn said.

“Really?” Poe said. “That’s the first thing you’re going to say when I’ve just told you that I love you.”

“Is that what you said?” Finn teased as they slipped right back into their fast banter. “Because it was pretty non-specific. I mean, this ‘we' that's doing the fighting and saving and loving is pretty general..."

Poe cut off his words with a fierce kiss. “I love you I love you, Finn,” he emphasized.

Finn melted into the warmth of something he never dreamed possible. “I love you too Poe.”

Poe lit up brighter than the lights of Canto Bight and said with a roguish twinkle, “Well, now that I’ve saved you; I guess we’d better go save the galaxy.”


End file.
